Supply Chain Management Tools 

Supply chain management tools and software allow businesses and companies to effectively plan, implement, and analyze SC activities and operations. They offer a vast variety of features and functions like managing transportation, orders, and inventory. In fact, they are significant for all types of businesses and organizations. Today, we’ll discuss top supply chain management tools and software, and their types.

Types of Supply Chain Management Tools 

It is significant to discuss the types of supply chain management tools, and they’re as follows;

Demand Forecasting Tool

Demand forecasting tools are a type of software that process a significant amount of data in a specific time period. It not only offers you a key insight into the past, but it also develops a forecast of the future. However, this type of demand SCM tools helps you to forecast customer demand in the future. It helps in the following ways;

• Developing production and manufacturing schedule
• Becoming Ready for the Change
• Limited inefficiencies

Order Processing Tool

Order processing plays a critical role in the SC processes, and the SCM software would make processes efficient and easier. They comprise performing various functions like;

• Order processing
• Sales order processing
• Managing orders
• Order fulfillment

The SC optimization tools and software automate various processes and activities of order processing by employing EDO technology to process order data.

Shipping Status Tool

If a company’s SC is dealing with a lot of shipping and cargo to customers around the globe, then it is significant to beware of the changes when things aren’t working. That’s why it is significant to have real-time updates, and they allow you to stay ahead of the problems when they come up. Any type of mistake would cost your company a lot.

Lean Inventory Tool

The concept behind lean production and manufacturing comprises developing what you need in the existing moment based on the projected and current demands of customers. Before the idea of lean production, manufacturers would produce a lot of products and it would increase cost. However, lean inventory helps them to achieve following

• Limited inventory cost
• No wastage of time
• Efficient utilization of resources
• Better usage of warehouse space
• Higher ROI

Collaboration Portal Tool

It is a type of tool that allows people to communicate SC issues like order issues, bottlenecks, and various others. The collaboration portal makes various SC processes visible, and it assists various stakeholders in the following ways;

• Access to the manufacturing processes
• Order forecasting
• Product specification
• Purchasing orders
• Shipment History

Top Supply Chain Management Tools – Top 10

Some of the top 10 supply chain management tools and software are as follows;

Intelex

When it comes to onboarding the supplier, Intelex is a great SCM tool. It provides a consolidated place where you could store performance and supplier information data. However, it allows you to easily manage and analyze performance and recognize weak areas that need adjustments.

Intelex helps you in the following ways;

• Performance analysis
• Root cause analysis
• Generating reports
• Insight into the internal processes
• Managing relationships with suppliers
• Auditing the management

Some of the weak areas of Intelex are as follows;

• The search bar and searching function need improvement
• The difficult employee onboarding process
• Pricing lacks transparency

Precoro

Precoro specializes in helping users when their purchasing orders need approval. The approval processing workflow of the software is very simple and easy. It allows you to assign specific personnel that would have the authority to apply for approval. Most importantly, it allows you to present the data in various formats however users feel comfortable reading it.

Precoro helps in the following ways;

• Automatically establishes budget limits
• Third-party integration
• Quickly generating purchasing orders

Some of the weak points of Precoro are as follows;

• Limited invoicing integration
• Needs improvement in the inventory feature
• Doesn’t generate open order reports

Freight POP

FreightPOP is a great SCM software for shippers. It offers over 300 integrations that would help you to connect with accounting software, ERP (enterprise resource planning), and CRM (customer relationship manager). Some of its key features and functions are;

• Transportation management
• Prescriptive analytics
• Freight auditing
• Freight planning
• 300 integrations
• Including carriers within a single click
• Shipping tools

Some of the weak points of FreightPOP are as follows;

• Not integrating with every carrier
• Users would contact customers for occasional errors
• Non-automated address validation

Magaya Supply Chain

Magaya Supply Chain is a great SCM tool that helps you to automate various operational processes, whether it is filing, customer service, or automated forms. It is an ideal tool for businesses because it offers them all-in-solution and helps them in their SC operations.

However, some of the key features and functions of Magaya are as follows;

• Customer relation management
• Rate management
• Customer Compliance
• Digitalizing Supply chain processes
• CBP (Customs and border protection) communication
• Integrated with other tools to offer you an all-in-one solution

Some of the weak points of Magaya are as follows;

• Customer support service doesn’t fix problems and closes the tickets
• Limited customer support time
• Requires update and improvement

Shippable

Shippable is a great SCM tool for all types and sizes of businesses and organizations. It has got an interactive user interface and user-friendly features. Some of the key features and functions of Shippabo are as follows;

• Ocean freight services
• Lead on the loose container
• Trading services
• Visible SKUs
• Cost management
• Suitable for order fulfillment by Amazon
• Keep tracking your leads until it reaches their destination
• Air freight services

Some of the weak points of Shippabo are as follows;

• Integration issues with other tools and software
• Unclear pricing
• Needs improvement in the user interface area

Tada

Tada is a great SCM tool when you are dealing with various departments and tools. It employs artificial intelligence to help businesses and organization to make the right decisions based on actual patterns and trends. Some of the key features and functions of Tada are as follows;

• Managing escalated situations
• Informs users about the change of plans of shipments
• Accepting purchasing orders
• Forecasting
• Inventory management in real-time
• Limited business disruptions
• Sending real-time alerts about the changes

Some of the weak areas of supply chain management are as follows;

• Have a demo before signing up
• Needs a lot of time to implementation
• Unclear pricing strategy

Anvyl

Anvyl is a great SCM tool for suppliers to track orders and deliveries automatically. The real-time updating would make the SC processes and logistics transparent and efficient. Some of the key features and functions of Anvil are as follows;

• Collaboration with new projects
• Centralized documentation processes
• Full audit trails
• Tracking payments
• Scorecard for suppliers
• Streamlining invoices, shipment, and match orders
• Conducting risk analysis

Some of the weak points of Anvyl are as follows;

• Tracks payment but doesn’t give you back
• Difficult to check the order status
• Unclear pricing

Epicore Kinetic

Epicore Kinetic is a great SCM software for warehouse management. It allows you to manage and track your inventory in real-time, and it would always let you know about your stock. However, it allows you to integrate with the portal of suppliers so that you can get a better picture of SC processes. Some of the key features and functions of Epicore Kinetic are as follows;

• Receiving and shipment
• Pre-packing fulfillment
• Allocating resources
• Automated packing and picking
• Integrating options with other systems
• Tracking in real-time
• Tracking the raw material

Some of the weak points of Epicore Kinetic are as follows;

• Slowly generate reports
• Tools have got bugs
• Unclear pricing strategy

Netsuite

Netsuite is a great SCM tool for planning SC processes. It allows you to generate future demands based on current and historical data. Most importantly, it helps you to manage inventory at different locations. Some of the key features and functions of Netsuite are as follows;

• Predictive analytics
• Order creation
• Demand analysis
• Optimizing inventory
• Demand planning
• Decreasing the stockouts
• Allocating business data in one place

Some of the weak points of Netsutie are as follows;

• Difficult to generate onboarding reports
• Unclear pricing
• Documentation processes need improvement

Logiwa WMS

Logiwa WMS is a great SCM software for e-commerce businesses and online stores. The built-in automation feature assists employees in quickly shipping, packing, and picking up things. However, some of the key features and functions of Logiwa WMS are as follows;

• Automatic routing
• API (application programming interface)
• Routes orders
• Synchronizing in real-time
• Marketplace
• Accounting tools
• Integration option with 200 third-party tools
• Flexible payment system
• Order routing based on the availability of products, delivery time, and shipping costs
• Quick response time

Some of the weak points of Logiwa WMS are as follows;

• Offers limited support
• Unclear pricing strategy
• Running and implementation take a lot of time

Conclusion: Supply Chain Management Tools – Top 10 

After an in-depth study of supply chain management tools; we have realized that SCM tools are highly significant for the growth and ease of your business operations. If you are learning about the top 10 SCM tools, then you should keep in mind the abovementioned software and tools.